A Thousand Years
by Morna
Summary: Even after years and decades, some things never change and some feelings never fade. Zutara set in LoK timeline.


A Thousand Years

Katara crunched across the snow of the South Pole and put a hand to her forehead to watch the great ship come in. She smiled to herself as she got briefly lost in the memory of the first terrifying time she had seen a ship. That had been the first time she had seen him as well. It was funny how things worked out like that. This ship was much different from the first though. The first ship had been a great, iron beast with a pointed hull. This one was much smaller though still impressive and made from silvery steel with a rounded deck and sporting the white flag of peace trimmed in the red of the Fire Nation.

She waited patiently on her aching knees and feet while it made its way ponderously into the small port. Men were running and shouting as they dropped the anchor and lowered the gangplank, all dressed in red and gold silk rather than ebony armor. With a thud, the gangplank hit the wooden dock and out came a line of stiff backed men who all clearly took themselves too seriously much like her own son. They were young and strong and had the clear look of the Fire Nation about them with their golden eyes and jet black hair.

After the last of them had descended and formed ranks, the last figure walked down slowly, the only sign of his true age. His shoulders were thrown back and his back was straight as a sword. His white hair was pulled back in a tight top knot with the golden crown of the Prince of the Fire Nation. As he came closer, her old eyes could make out the stern expression that highlighted the wrinkles and lines he had accumulated over all the long decades. Seeing him like that always made her feel terribly old. No matter what, she always remembered him as the handsome and smooth-skinned young man he had been all those years ago.

He approached her respectfully and they both bowed as deeply as their bad backs would allow them to.

"Master Katara," he greeted her formally.

"Fire Lord Zuko," she replied.

He smiled, which multiplied the wrinkles on his face. "Fire Lord no longer. I'm just Zuko now."

_As you always have been_, she thought to herself. "Come," she said as she turned and waved them towards the grand hall made of snow and ice. "You may station your assistants within the guest rooms and drop off your things in your suites."

He nodded and followed her. They made for a slow procession to the great building that stood in the middle of the square. It was amazing in the light of the sun. It glittered as if cut from crystal with foamed waves carved into the ice and hunting scenes depicting the legends of her people.

Katara was perfectly aware of the speed with which they traveled. Years ago, it would have taken her and Zuko a third of the time to reach it, and they could have carried much of their own gear. Not now though. Time had not been cruel to them, but it had still taken its toll. She could never have imagined feeling so tired when she was a young woman even when raising her three children.

At last, they made it to the hall and the guards and assistants were dispersed immediately to prepare Zuko's rooms for him and unpack all of his things.

She turned back to the former Fire Lord and gestured to the stairs on their right. "Let's go somewhere a little smaller. This place gets so drafty, and I know your old bones can't take it."

His mouth quirked on one side. "_My_ old bones? My bones are perfectly fine, but if we need to go somewhere else for your old bones I understand."

"Ha," she chuckled feeling younger in his presence already, "you are the older of the two of us."

"Only by two years, and at our age, that is nothing. Come take my arm so I can help you up these stairs, old woman." He held out his arm for her and she took it automatically.

"Only to make you feel better. I know that your ego has not aged well," she shot back as they took the steps slowly and surely.

"You took it all the same," he said with a smile and a sidelong glance with golden eyes.

"As charming as ever," she laughed as they ascended higher and higher. She swore she heard both of their knees creaking with each stair they mounted.

After several more minutes of bickering interlaced with complaints about their joints, they found themselves at the top, and Katara led him to the third door on the right.

She opened the icy double doors with a flick of her hand and ushered the old man in. The room was quaintly appointed with a low long table and plenty of cushions for their ancient, weary bodies.

Immediately, she set about making a pot of tea. "Is Jasmine still your favorite?" she asked over her shoulder as she collected the pot and cups.

"Of course," he answered as he started a fire in the wood-burning stove. "It was the only kind I could truly appreciate despite Uncle's numerous attempts to turn me into a connoisseur."

_After all this time, he still misses the old man, _she said silently and then chided herself, _who am I to call Iroh old? I'm well into my eighty-fifth winter._

She bent some water from a nearby jug into the pot and set the tea ball inside with Zuko's favorite blend. She shuffled over to the stove and set it on the eye until it was boiling and whistling.

Zuko watched her from his spot at the table with wistful eyes. The waterbender could tell that he was reminiscing on the past when she brought over the two cups of steaming tea and set them down on the table. She positioned herself beside him rather than across from him as was customary.

He stirred a little at the action and looked down at her with a smile. The difference in their heights had only increased as the years carried on.

"Thank you," he murmured, bringing the cup to his mouth and taking a sip of the scalding drink.

She waited a few moments to let it cool before she did the same. "You're very welcome, Zuko."

"It's good to hear you say that," he said in a raspy voice, turning the tea cup in his weathered hands.

"Say what?"

"My name," he said sheepishly, casting his eyes down to the pillows at his side.

She laughed lightly at the statement though she knew it held so much weight. "Why should that bring you so much pleasure?"

His brows furrowed. "For years now, I have been Fire Lord or Fire Lord Zuko or His Grace or His Highness. Even though, I am no longer Fire Lord people still address me as such or I am Master Zuko or something like that. It gets very old and very tiring very quickly, Katara." He sighed and let his shoulders stoop under weight of the years. "It's just good to know that I still have friends. That I still have you." He grabbed her hand where it sat on the table and their fingers intertwined in an old habit.

She leaned her white-haired head against his shoulder and ran her thumb over the knobs of his knuckles. His hands were one of the few parts of him that looked their age. They were thick and gnarled like the branch of an old tree, but she could still feel great strength in the one that grasped hers.

"It is still hard to believe that they are all gone," she said sadly, thinking back on Aang, Toph, and her brother.

"Yes," he breathed, "who would have thought that we would outlive them? We were the worriers of the group."

"But who can say how much longer I have left? Time is catching up with me," she stated heavily, knowing it was only the truth.

"No one can say how much time is granted to them. I might go before you."

_Yes_, she thought bleakly, _but I would follow soon after as you would after my death._ That did not need to be said though. They both knew that the other would not be able to stay on in the world much longer after the other went on to the Spirit World. It would be too much. They had been parted so much life. They would not allow death to do the same.

For a long time, they said nothing, only breathing and taking comfort in the presence of each other. They both sipped quietly on the tea and allowed their bones to settle.

Then the door flew open, and Katara flinched, lifting her head from his shoulder and dragging her hand away from his. It was too late. The young Avatar had burst in on them unannounced as was her habit. She stood in the doorway with her arms braced and her eyes wide.

No one said anything for a few heartbeats.

"Yes, Korra?" Katara asked in a tired voice.

The teenager actually had the decency to look embarrassed. "Sifu Katara, I only came to ask you . . . to ask. . .," she never finished her question. Instead, her mouth set into a stubborn line, and she took a step into the room. "Did I catch you at a bad time? Was something going on?"

Katara and Zuko exchanged a glance full of unspoken words.

"You might as well," he said with a shrug and took up drinking his tea again.

"Korra, sit down," Katara ordered and gestured to the cushions in front of her.

For once, the young Avatar did as she was told without hesitation. She seated herself cross-legged on a pile of cushions across from the two elders.

"Zuko and I have been friends for a long time," Katara started.

"It looked like more than friends to me," Korra said bluntly.

The retired Fire Lord only laughed into his cup while Katara shot him a dirty look.

The waterbender sighed and spread her hands out in front of her. "You want the truth?"

The teenage girl nodded and set her hands in her lap.

"Zuko and I have been very good friends for many years, but we are as you so eloquently put it 'more than friends' as well." The waterbender and firebender exchanged another deep look before she continued. "You may not understand this, but we have a very special bond. It is hard to describe or to justify."

"So the stories and rumors were true?" the Avatar questioned as she leaned forward with both elbows on the table.

Katara nodded hesitantly as she tried to pick out the right words to say, knowing that there were none. "Some of them might be. I do not know all of them, but yes, it is possible."

"So you guys were in love or are in love, right?" She supported her chin on both fists as she stared at them with an intent look.

"Korra, that is really none of your-" Katara said weakly before Zuko chimed in.

"Yes, we were and we are," he said with a pointed look at both women. "There is no point in dancing around it anymore, Katara. Korra saw what she saw, and she does not seem stupid."

"I never said she was," the old woman said sharply. "I just thought it was not appropriate to say something like that in front of her. She is Aang's reincarnation after all." Her face screwed up into a worried look as she stared into the depths of her teacup.

"You think he doesn't know already? He's a past Avatar in the Spirit World, I'm sure he's perfectly aware of what happened in the past." Zuko's voice had grown as sharp as the waterbender's, and Korra saw some of the fieriness that he had been famous for as a young man.

"What exactly did happen in the past?" she questioned eagerly.

"That really is none of your business," the old man said, putting a consoling hand on Katara's shoulder.

"Spirits, if he does know," the woman said in a voice thick with tears. She only shook her head in shame and said no more.

"If he does know," Korra offered gently, "then I'm sure he understands and forgives you."

Katara lifted her head to stare at the other waterbender with lost, blue eyes that made her look like the young, naïve girl she'd once been. "How can you know that?"

Korra shrugged. "I'm the Avatar I just know these things. Besides, everyone knows that Avatar Aang was a really forgiving and cool guy. He doesn't seem like the type to a hold grudge, right?"

"Yes, I suppose you are right," Katara said in relief, dabbing at the corners of her eyes with the sleeve of her coat. "Forgive me, it's just that we've kept this secret for so long. There were rumors yes, but we never told anyone. People just liked to gossip. I didn't think anyone ever thought they were true."

Korra nodded happily, glad she could put her sifu's heart as ease. Then her eyebrows drew together as a question came to mind. "So if you two were in love all this time, why didn't you get together after Avatar Aang died? I know that the former Fire Lady was gone by then too."

"Tenzin," Katara whispered. "I couldn't do that to Tenzin. You know how he is, Korra. He's so serious, too serious for his own good. He idolized his father so much. It would break his heart if he knew about what went on between Zuko and me."

Korra began to say something, but her teacher's hand shot out across the table to hers and gripped it fiercely. "Please, don't tell him," she pleaded. "He mustn't know. No good can come of it. Don't tell anyone."

"I-I won't," the Avatar said quietly, shocked by the desperation in her sifu's voice. "Your secret is safe with me. I won't tell Tenzin or anyone." Her eyes went from one face to the other and saw them relax as the fear left them.

"Thank you," they both said in unison as they stared back at her with solemn, ancient eyes.

She bowed her head quickly and scrambled to her feet to get out of the room as fast as she could. Things like that made her uncomfortable, and this was just too much for her to take in at one time. Maybe someday she might ask her sifu to tell her about it, but not today.

When the Avatar was gone Zuko looked at Katara carefully. "You think we can trust her?"

"Yes," Katara said in a shaky voice as she leaned her head against his shoulder again and looped her fingers through his. "Korra is a good girl. She won't tell anyone."

"I almost wish she would. We shouldn't have to hide anymore. We should have never had to hide," he murmured, the bitterness clear in his voice.

"I know, and for that, I'm sorry, but our story must die with us." She closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into his warm side as his fingers freed themselves from hers, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Then she slept and dreamt of when they were young, but in her dreams they were free as well.

**I should have done school work, but then I found out that Zuko was alive, and I had no choice. This had to be written. I had to write this. It's full of fluff and mush, but I just couldn't help myself. Old Zutara is too adorable and sad! Please let me know what you thought. Comments always brighten my day. :D **

**P.S.-This was written to Christina Perri's A Thousand Years.**


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